


Sekkei No Heart! Shinko Tragedy.

by JudyAnnMarie



Series: Sekkei No Heart! Shinko Tragedy. [1]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Drama, Friendship/Love, Gay Male Character, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Romance, Shounen-ai, Tragedy, Tsunderes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-12
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-08 06:24:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/758124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudyAnnMarie/pseuds/JudyAnnMarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’ll give you to the count of 3 to explain to me why the hell there are gaping holes in my classrooms!” Masaki’s roar filled Saotome’s office. He almost looked as if he might explode on them.</p><p>“Don’t worry, it was only a minor setback. I was simply trying to show my staff the do’s and don’ts of creating a flashy entrance that I’ve learned in my years.” Saotome folded his arms and looked as if he had done nothing wrong, but in fact he had ruined over half the classrooms in Masaki’s main building. Masaki looked as if he might tackle the grinning man.</p><p>“I will smite you where you stand.” Masaki growled out. He hated the easy going way Saotome dealt with serious things. Saotome just patted the man’s left shoulder and began to laugh loudly. The staff in the room jolted from the power of the laugh. They couldn’t help but look at Masaki the Headmaster at Watanabe Academy of design with sympathy.</p><p>“I know! Your students can use my extra classrooms while your school is getting its needed repairs.” Saotome lifted his hand, his index finger pointed up. His face looked as if he had made a great suggested but from the face Masaki reacted with, one could say he had said the most horrible thing known to mankind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - You want to be one of them?

“Watanabe Masaki?” His playful voice rang throughout the whole classroom. Of course the students of 2-b were all used to him by now. Saotome Mitsuo was an outgoing flamboyant young man who had dreams of becoming an idol. Popular with the rest of the student body he always had some big event during the day. The surprising thing about this was the young man Mitsuo was approaching, Watanabe Masaki could easily be Mitsuo’s polar opposite. “Something you need, Saotome-san?” Masaki looked up from his book. Masaki was one of the only students in his entire year to be able to read English without fail, due to his mixed heritage. Saotome glanced down at the book, he could barely read any English, so the book could have been alien and he wouldn’t know the difference. Looking back up at Masaki he just shot the man a cheeky smile, teeth showing and everything. “After school meet me at the rail road tracks!” Mitsuo spun in a complete circle, facing the sitting young man with his hand extended. Holding out a folded piece of paper with the name of the street the tracks were on it. Masaki raised his right eye brow as he looked from the paper back up to the smiling idiot. “And what if I refuse?” Masaki’s expression remained as monotone as when he was reading. He folded his book close, keeping his index finger to hold his spot.  
“Well that simply won’t due~” Mitsuo chimed, no matter how uninterested Masaki sounded he wouldn’t take no for an answer.  
“Huh?” Masaki had clearly underestimated the young man standing before him. Thinking he could brush the man off with blank expression and blunt words. “You have to come meet me, I won’t accept no as an answer.” Mitsuo set the paper on the table. He turned away before Masaki could even open his mouth to respond. Masaki looked down at the folded paper, his eye then returned to Mitsuo as he watched him walk back to his seat. Masaki couldn’t help but think that Mitsuo was the biggest idiot he’d ever met. Not interested in the slightest he crumbled the paper up in his hand and threw it behind him. Masaki was the last desk on the left side, so it went unnoticed when he tossed the paper behind him. 

~

The rest of the day went as normal as any other. After lunch Masaki took it upon himself to take the rest of the day off. His school bag was filled with two paint cans, red and silver. He didn’t have any interest in school so he never did the work. If it wasn’t for his mother begging and pleading for the school to keep him, he’d already been thrown out by now. Masaki didn’t really sneak out of the school; rather he just walked right out, teachers too busy with their other students to stop him. Masaki was a lost cause and everyone knew it including himself. Why would he have to try when there was no point; was how he thought. Making his way to an old rundown apartment building he passed everyday on his way to school. He had been coming up with a plan to ‘brighten’ the wall right out front. “Let’s see what I can do with this dirty wall.” He mumbled to himself. Masaki never gave anything when it came to school or work, but when it came to designing things on wall with spray paint one could say he was a genius. Setting his black messenger bag on the ground, he pulled out his spray paint cans and a dirtied hand towel to set over his mouth and nose. Masaki looked at the wall, imagining what he wanted to put there, after moments of silently putting it together in his mind he finally picked the red spray can up. He held the hand towel over the bottom part if his mouth with his left hand as he began to spray a red trail over the wall. Completely focused on what he was doing with the wall he didn’t notice that someone was standing only a few feet behind him. Now partially finished with a good section of the wall, he pulled the towel away from his mouth and took a few steps back. Getting a better picture of what he was doing with the wall a small smiled curled on his lips. With the two can of red and silver he designed a finely detailed pocket watch, with parts of the saying ‘Time stops for no one, live life to the fullest.’ finished. He chuckled to himself. “How cliché.” He mumbled under his breath. He still failed to notice the young man standing behind him.  
“Then why put it on a wall?” Masaki was taken by surprise when he heard the voice. Jerking his head to see who had said it, he was faced with a cheeky smile form Mitsuo. Masaki just gave the other a scowl and turned back to look at his work. “I waited at the meeting spot for a long time, but after you didn’t show I figured I might find you somewhere around here.” Mitsuo sounded sure of himself. His tone different than this morning, less chipper. Masaki set the rag over his mouth and starter back on the wall with his spray can. He shook the man’s words off and continued. Mitsuo stood still just watching as the man made progress with the wall. Looking at his watch every so often Mitsuo was determined to talk to Masaki. Hours passed and not a word was spoken between them. Mitsuo knew that Masaki put more effort into his graffiti than he did anything else. Mitsuo was used to the other ignoring him, and pretty much everyone else. He knew it wasn’t because he thought he was better than everyone, rather like he didn’t notice anyone. Mitsuo found Misaki to be strange, but when he saw Masaki spray painting he was like a different person. Mitsuo had seen Masaki a few times around the city marking up various walls. He had even seen him getting in trouble with the police for it. Chuckling to himself as he thought about how much trouble he must avoid. 

~

The sun had started to set before Masaki finally set his spray can down. He turned his head to look at the sky, his hand set to his forehead to keep the sun out of his eyes. A sigh slipped through Masaki’s lips. He must have been bothered that he couldn’t finish the wall. He turned back to look down at his bag, leaning down on his knee’s he started putting his spray can’s away. “Wait your done?” Mitsuo was shocked that Masaki wouldn’t continue into the night. He usually thought that Masaki or people who did graffiti would rather work at night because of less people.  
“Well once the sun sets I have no light.” Masaki answered flatly. He stood up and set the strap of the bag over his shoulder. Mitsuo watched him turn around.  
“That makes sense…” His voice trailed off. Mitsuo had wanted to talk to him but now that he finally had his attention he felt his throat get dry.  
“So can I talk to about what I wanted to talk about earlier?” Mitsuo picked his voice back up and a smile returned to his face. “Sure but only until I get home, then I’m going inside.” Masaki was not very friendly. Mitsuo expected something like this so it didn’t put a damper on his spirit. He actually expected to be shot down. Raising a fist to Masaki his smile widened.  
“Good enough!” Mitsuo started. He then turned his head to his bag and pulled a homemade tape out of his bag. “This is a song I just made, one day I’m going to be an idol.” Mitsuo held the tape out. Masaki just looked at him, noting to himself how strange he thought Mitsuo was for starting out the conversation like this.  
“Ok.” Out of pure consideration he took the tape in his hand and looked at both sides. Mitsuo put both his hands on his hip and made a face like he had accomplished smoothing. “I don’t care what it takes but one day I will be a world famous Idol, and when I see you doing your graffiti I know you understand the passion I feel for becoming an idol.” Mitsuo’s face became a bit more serious. Masaki couldn’t deny that. He had heard about Mitsuo declaring that he will be an idol in class but he never took it serious. Looking at the tape, Masaki realized that Mitsuo wasn’t just full of it. “So what I want from you is for you to make my album cover for this song.” Mitsuo stepped closer. Masaki just looked at him; he wasn’t sure what to say. His expression stayed the same but in his head he wanted to laugh but also ask why. “I’m a bit confused; you want me to do what?” Masaki just shook his head and stepped away from the other.  
“I mean that your art is amazing, I’ve seen you a few times. You and I can make a great team. I want to people to see your art and then hear my songs!” Mitsuo sounded more excited with each word.  
“Is there something wrong with your head?” Masaki laughed, he had finally turned and started down the road to his house. Mitsuo followed him. “Think about it! Please, I’m serious.” Mitsuo pleaded. After following him for a few more moments he stopped and watched Masaki walk away. Masaki didn’t say anything; he just waved at the other without turning around.


	2. Chapter One - Not so happy camper

The blank stare Masaki was giving the great Shinning Saotome shocked the staff of Saotome Academy. They held their gasps back to see what kind of response their president and headmaster would give to the neighboring Academy’s Headmaster Watanabe, Masaki. Saotome just held his arms out wide and wrapped them around the other. The staff couldn’t hold back their gasps and shocked noises as they watched the two headmasters struggle in their hug. Masaki wiggled himself free and pushed Saotome back.

“I’ll give you to the count of 3 to explain to me why the hell there are gaping holes in my classrooms!” Masaki’s roar filled Saotome’s office. His face beat red from the anger welling up inside of him. He almost looked as if he might explode on them.  
“Don’t worry, it was only a minor setback. I was simply trying to show my staff the do’s and don’ts of creating a flashy entrance that I’ve learned in my years.” Saotome folded his arms and looked as if he had done nothing wrong, but in fact he had ruined over half the classrooms in Masaki’s main building. Masaki looked as if he might tackle the grinning man and choke him to death.

“Don’t worry you say!? WHERE WILL MY STAFF HOLD THEIR CLASSES?” Masaki’s tone rose with each word, turning into a full on scream. Masaki was usually a very calm and serious man but Saotome Mitsuo brought the worst out in him. Ever since they were in high school the pair has butted heads in methods of doing things.  
“...There are not nearly enough classes for my students and the construction men said it will take over a month to fix those classrooms.” Masaki took a deep breath and regained his composure. He knew that this was expected from his longtime friend Saotome. 

“I can’t apologize enough; I should have exercised more caution with your classrooms.” Saotome roughly put his hands on Masaki’s shoulders. Masaki just looked at the man with a fierce glare; Saotome had been exposed to the glare for to many years for it to bother him.  
“I will smite you where you stand.” Masaki growled out. He hated the easy going way Saotome dealt with serious things. Saotome just patted the man’s left shoulder and began to laugh loudly. The staff in the room jolted from the power of the laugh. They couldn’t help but look at Masaki the Headmaster at Watanabe Academy of design with sympathy. 

“I know! Your students can use my extra classrooms while your school is getting its needed repairs.” Saotome lifted his hand, his index finger pointed up. His face looked as if he had made a great suggested but from the face Masaki reacted with, one could say he had said the most horrible thing known to mankind.  
“How about, oh I don’t know, NO!” Masaki tilted his head back in forth as if he was thinking about it but when the fierce no escaped his lips, he just held his head straight up. Tsukimiya Ringo stepped forward, a cautious smile curled on his painted pink lips. The cross dressing Idol had worked with the “Free Moon” Company that Masaki had owned. It was full of graphic designers, fashion designers, dance instructors, agents, and pretty much the entire business side of the Idol world. Masaki himself had designed an album cover for the cross dresser once before. 

“Watanabe-sensei wouldn’t it be best if the students attended here; the schools could both provide transportation for the students to get to and from classes. The schools aren’t far from each other and you two have known each other for some time so you can trust the staff here.” Ringo continued to smile trying to hide the fear that Masaki might throw him right out the window along with Saotome. Masaki jerked his head to the side just enough to see the pink haired man. 

“The teachers I can trust, it’s this fool I can’t leave one ounce of trust with.” Masaki spat out. Masaki knew that the teachers Saotome gathered were more than capable to make sure that things went well, plus his own academy’s teacher would be here. The only problem was that the flaying monkey here would be sneaking around more than likely doing things behind Masaki’s back. Saotome just smiled at the man’s harsh words. He used his hand to pet the man’s cheek in an affectionate way. 

“Oh old friend, your students will be treated like my own!” He quirked his head to the right and said as if he was whispering. Shivers shot up Masaki’s spine ad he pulled back. He hated when Saotome did creepy things like that.  
“Tch.” He made the noise through his teeth. He was really left with no choice, all the other academies were too far and he did trust the staff at Saotome Academy. Shaking his head he opened his mouth.  
“Fine, since it seems I have no other place to put my students. It’s the least you can do what damages you’ve done.” Masaki turned to face the staff, who were had a sea of mixed faces. They were shocked but sympathetic towards Masaki because of what had happened. 

“Please take care of my students, thank you.” Masaki bowed to the staff. He appreciated the kindness the staff and even his idiotic friend had showed him.  
“I have to call the contractors about my building, and get everything ready for when the students begin coming here. Take care.” With that Masaki patted Ringo on the head, giving him a brief smile. He headed out the door and could hear Saotome yell with excitement and instruct his staff to prepare for the influx of Watanabe Academy students. 

~

The days following the conversation between the two head masters, the staff of both Saotome Academy and Watanabe Academy prepared for the move to Saotome Academy. Masaki stayed at his academy to deal with repairs and the rest of the student body that had classrooms. The two schools provided the Watanabe Academy students with a charter bus to and from academies. The start of the week came around, marking the first day of the joined academies. The Saotome Academy students curious to meet the others form their sister school. Of course there were ones that either had no opinion on the outsider students or weren’t happy about it.

“Manabe-kun, please try to participate a little more than just grunts next time.” The salt and pepper haired teacher pleaded. A small framed boy stood in front of him, his hands wrapped tightly around his shoulder bag. Manabe Shouta was a rather serious young man who was more interested in painting then social interaction. Shouta responded with a shrug. The teacher shook his head. Shouta had been in the Digital design class for an entire year previous to the current one. 

The sudden move from Watanabe Academy to Saotome Academy had made it even harder for the teachers to try and make Shouta more social towards others. Not that it was any of their business if Shouta had friends, but they were worried that the young man was too much of a loner.  
“I’ll try harder tomorrow, Sensei.” Shouta bowed his head. The teacher could tell he didn’t mean the words as much as he should with the way he bowed his head. The teacher opened his mouth to remind Shouta that he had promised to try harder before and never did, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Both the teacher and Shouta turned their gaze to the door; a young tanned girl opened the door. The teacher smiled, waving his hand to let the girl know she could enter.

“Hakan-chan, isn’t this a surprise.” The teacher chimed. The young Native American girl was named Hakan fox and she was one of the harder working, upbeat students he had. She smiled at both pair standing in front of the desk; the teacher leaning against the desk while Shouta stood a few feet away from him.  
“I was wondering if you were busy, I had a few things I wanted to ask you about on the latest assignment you handed out.” Hakan tilted her head as her smile weakened. The teacher stood up straight, he opened his mouth to tell her that he was talking with Shouta but glanced at her pleading expression, then to the Shouta who looked like he was ready to fly out of the class the first chance he got. 

“Ah, no I’m free right now. Mananbe-kun please think on what I was saying and we’ll talk later.” The teacher took his teacher’s planner and tapped the boy lightly on his forehead. Shouta’s expression unaffected by the tap, he bowed to his teacher.  
“Yes Sensei.” Shouta turned and headed towards the door. Most people didn’t get to know Shouta very well; on account of his serious nature. Little did the teacher smiling at the walking boy, that Hakan and him were quite good friends. They didn’t have the same class together but they had made friends over common grounds. Hakan knew that Shouta hated whne the teachers got on his back for trivia thinsg like not being social, so the pair had worked out a routine. 

Hakan was popular with teachers because of her good nature so it was easy for her to approach a teacher and get them to let Shouta go so they could help her. Shouta looked up at the girl and shot her a smirk as he passed. As serious as Shouta was he still had the ability to be mischievous; especially when it came to getting out of dealing with the teachers.

~

With his chance to escape thanks to Hakan, he made his way out of the Saotome Academy building. Shouta and Hakan were some of the many students to get transferred to the Saotome Academy building until their classrooms were repaired. Hakan loving to sing was excited to visit the academy but Shouta wasn’t as excited. He felt rather indifferent towards the change of buildings. 

He looked up at the sky, it was tinting with orange as the sun began to set. He still had enough time to get to the dorms in time before curfew. There were two more buses that went from Saotome Academy to Watanabe Academy, giving the students enough time to gather their things and talk with their teachers if needed. Shouta kept his hands tightly wrapped around the strap of his shoulder bag, taking his sweet time while walking. He did think the scenery of Saotome Academy was nice. Rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger as he walked, a sudden rush of tiredness ran over him. 

~

He was walking alone with no sight of anyone else in his path, so when a sudden rush of cackling and giggling girls filled the area behind him he jerked his head back. He could see the students wearing the extravagant Saotome uniforms. Watanabe students had a plainer and simpler looking uniform. Shouta was wearing a black Gakuran, the pins signifying his grade and class type on the standing collar of his Jacket. From a far most would assume the boy was a middle school. He was on the shorter and thinner side, while his brown messy hair made his face harder to see. He watched as the group drew closer to him, noting to himself that the five or six girls were surrounding a tall man. The man could easily pass as a teacher but he was wearing a academy uniform. Shouta had now stopped dead in his tracks lost in thought. 

_What a bunch of idiots their making themselves out to be._

Shouta scoffed to himself. Looking at each giggling girl throwing themselves at the man. They weren’t anything special so he glanced up at the man. The man was quite attractive, his orange-brown hair falling to his shoulders. He looked like quite the player with the way he wore his uniform and his expression with the girls. 

Shouta was about to turn his head back and continue walking to his bus when the man’s striking blue eyes caught Shouta’s gaze. A smile grew on his face, as he held Shouta’s gaze.  
“What’s a middle school student doing roaming around our school?” the group had moved close enough so that the man could direct his words to Shouta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy! Constructive Cristism is welcome~//


	3. Chapter Two - Manabe, Shouta

Shouta’s face remained monotone as the ‘playboy’ and his fangirls approached him. The girls fell silent when the golden haired man spoke. Shouta blinked, slightly taken aback that the man had talked to him. Shouta’s face unchanged as he opened his mouth.  
“I’m not a middle school students, I go to Watanabe Academy.” Shouta responded as if brushing the man’s comment off. Shouta wasn’t particularly offended; he just hated how frivolous the man seemed.  
“You’d know that if you weren’t so wrapped up in yourself.” Shouta shrugged, he didn’t care to stand in talk so he looked forward and continued on his way towards the bus. He could hear the girls start raving and ranting, presumably over the way Shouta talked to the playboy. Shouta ignored the noisy group and continued on his way. He yawned into his palm as he made his way to the newly set up bus stop. His thoughts lingering back to the group he had encountered not long before. He wondered want kind of expression he left the man with.  
The bus stop was a few feet from the road, just a simple pole with a sign. The sign attached to the pole was bright blue with a white bus on it. He leaned his side against the pole and crossed his arms.  
Oh man…the days seem so much longer because of the travel between schools. I know the career path of both my school and Saotome are in the same industry but why did the Headmaster have to pick this school.  
Shouta had lost himself in thought as he waited for the bus to show up. He looked to the sides and noticed he was the only one standing at the bus stop. Taking his phone out of his bag he looked at the clock to check the time, 6:23pm. He only had 7 minutes to wait and he didn’t mind riding the bus alone. Although he did think that, Hakan his foreign gal pal might catch up to him in time. 

Shouta swung the door to his room open, he had requested a solo room but because there weren’t any available for second years he was forced to share a room with another young man. Of course Shouta’s roommate was another quiet one, not as serious as Shouta. Shouta scanned the room for his roommate, seeing that he wasn’t in the room Shouta guessed he was either still at Saotome Academy or in the dining hall. Shouta set his shoulder bag next to the entrance of the door.  
After Shouta changed from his school uniform, he stood in the door way of his bathroom. All the dorms in Watanabe Academy had private bathrooms. He set his hands on his hips and looked around the carpeted floor of his room for his sweat pants. He remembered taking them off this morning and setting them on his desk chair.  
“Why does he keep touching my clothes?” Shouta mumbled under his breathe; all he was currently wearing his London t-shirt that had big ben on it, a pair of boxers and his socks. The t-shirt covered most of his boxers because his mother had bought it two sizes to big.  
Shouta’s mother was a photographer who traveled all over the world to get pictures. Her pictures were used in hundreds of magazines. Of course because she had travel all over to get her pictures, Shouta stayed with relatives or family friends until his mother came to visit. Even though she was gone most of the time Shouta loved his mother more than anything. Buying all the magazines with her photos just to keep up with what his mother was up to.  
Shouta shrugged, walking over to his shoulder bag to grab his notebook and pencil case out. After grabbing what he needed he sat on the foot of his bed and began his homework. Shouta was a serious student who spent all his free time trying to improve his painting. He chose Watanabe Academy because of his love for painting and graphic design. He knew that Saotome Academy was for students achieving to be Idols and composers for idol, whereas the students of Watanabe academy was for students wanting to be on the business side of the idol world. So it wasn’t a big surprise when the head master informed the students that they would be taking homestead at Saotome academy.  
Even while Shouta was working on his general education homework such as math or science he was thinking of painting. Maybe it was the drive he saw in his mother’s photography that made him wants to get better at painting. Shouta did have somewhat of a mother complex. He tapped the eraser of his pale orange mechanical pencil against his bottom lip; having trouble in general education was normal for the short boy.  
Spending the next few hours finishing up his work, he’d forgotten to get dinner. He wasn’t really hungry so when he saw the time flickering on the digital clock, he shrugged it off. His roommate entered the room, stopping when noticing Shouta hard at work on his homework.  
“I didn’t see you in the dining hall, when’d you get here?” His light haired roommate closed the door behind him. His roommate also known as Abe, Keiichi was much taller than Shouta and had a gentler expression on most days. Shouta was shook from his focus after hearing the question.  
“I got here a while ago, I lost track of time so I didn’t eat.” Shouta voice was young, almost as if he just his puberty. He had a flat tone while he talked.  
“Ahh I see, you should have texted me I could have picked you up something from the vending machine on the way.” Keiichi had become used to the tone Shouta gave everyone. They had been roommates since first year, although they weren’t really friends.  
“No that would have caused trouble for you, it’s fine I will eat in the morning.” Shouta looked back down at his work and began scribbling on the paper. Keiichi watched the boy for a moment before he started his way to the restroom, stripping himself of his clothes on the way.  
“Considerate aren’t you, Manabe-kun.” Keiichi stood in the doorway of the restroom in his boxers. He chuckled to himself knowing that Shouta wouldn’t respond to something like that. Shouta almost seemed as if social interaction was a choir. Keiichi liked that he didn’t have a noisy or outgoing roommate but wished Shouta was easier to approach.  
“Shouta, my name is Shouta.” Keiichi had already turned to take a shower like he did every day after getting back from the dining hall. He looked back at the small framed boy; Shouta hadn’t even looked up to say that. A smile curled on Keiichi’s lips.  
“Yeah sorry, Shouta-kun.” Keiichi closed the door behind him and began his nightly routine.

After both Keiichi and Shouta had finished showering and getting ready for bed, it didn’t take long for the boys to fall asleep. Shouta was a hard sleeper so it took a lot for him to wake him up, luckily because of habit when time for him to wake up rolled around, it was easier for him to get up.  
Riinng Rinng  
Was heard throughout the room, causing Keiichi to quickly slam his hand on the compact digital clock. Keiichi opened his eyes; he watched the ceiling until he heard the other stir in their bed. Glancing to the side Keiichi could see Shouta rustle out of bed. Shouta sat on the side of his bed while rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. He was definitely not a morning person. Keiichi watched the boy for a few more moments before getting up himself and began getting ready for school. Shouta waited for Keiichi to enter the restroom before he started to change. It took Shouta only about 10 minutes to dress himself and get ready for the day. He was out of the room in thirty minutes, Keiichi was usually in the process of getting his things together when Shouta left.

Saotome academy was swarming with students, due to the influx of Watanabe academy students the school was a lot busier. As the day passed Shouta barely said a word, he usually didn’t talk unless someone said something to him and even then he sometimes only responded with a noise. Shouta was more talkative when he got around Hakan, due to the fact she forced her way into being friends with him. He didn’t mind her that much so it was easy for him to talk with her.  
The lunch bell rang and all the students poured into the halls. The head master at Watanabe had sent some of his school cooks over to Saotome to help out and lessen the loud on the Saotome cooks. Shouta was the last student out of his classroom for lunch, although he was quick to make his way to the lunch room. He’d barely eaten a bowl of rice for breakfast so he had to listen to his stomach growl all throughout class.  
Entering the lunchroom Shouta was quickly called out by Hakan. She waved him over to her table where there was two people he’d never seen sitting on both sides of her. A young red haired boy with a goofy smile plastered on his face, and on the other side a brown haired girl who was preoccupied with the young red head talking to her. Shouta moved to the table after getting his lunch. He remained silent as he sat down next to the girl, all three that were already at th table stopped and looked at Shouta as he sat down.  
“Shouta! I thought you might ignore me.” Hakan chuckled as she watched Shouta get comfortable in his chair.  
“You’d never let me live it down if I ignored you.” Shouta didn’t even look up, he shoveled a spoonful of egg drop soup into his mouth. The two strangers looked at each other before starting to laugh. Hakan smiled wide and just looked at the both of them.  
“This is Manabe Shouta, don’t let his sharp expression bother you, he can be a nice guy.” Hakan pointed to the eating brunette. Shouta looked up at mention of his name. He glanced at both strangers and bowed his head without saying a word.  
“Nice to meet you Mananbe-kun, the names Ittoki Otoya, but you can call me Otoya if you’d like.” The red head cheerfully smiled and gave the boy a peace sign.  
“I’m Nanami Haruka.” The girl smiled, her cheeks turning a rosy color. Shouta could tell the girl was shy so he shrugged her greeting off not wanting to further her embarrassment. Shouta noticed the pair was wearing the Saotome uniform. He looked at Hakan and shot her a slightly confused look.  
“How’d you meet them? They don’t even go to our school.” Shouta ignored the presence of the strangers and addressed Hakan.  
“We met this morning while I got lost on the way to class. I totally forgot where my class was and Otoya-kun helped me out. He introduced me to Haruka-chan on the way to lunch.” Hakan explained to Shouta. She was just like Keiichi, used to his fierce glances and blank tone. Hakan was a strong willed girl from America, so it took a lot more than a short Japanese hard ass to shake her. She actually thought the way Shouta acted was cute in a little brother way.  
“I see, well at least you didn’t scare them away with the insane way you act.” Shouta turned his attention to Otoya.  
“Thanks for helping her out, she can be a real fool.” Shouta bowed his head again and started eating again. Otoya chuckled; he waved his hand at the boy and also took a few bites of his own food. He could see that Shouta was stern but cared for his friend.  
“It’s really no problem, I actually enjo-“Otoya started after swallowing the traces in his mouth. Before he could finish he was interrupted by the sounds of girls yelling and cackling a few feet away. Everyone sitting at the table turned to see what all the commotion was about, although Otoya had a clue. He let an exaggerated sigh escape his lips. Shouta looked at the sighing red head then back at the ground. Remember a similar scene happening yesterday his lip twitched.  
“Well hello there little lamb.” Called out the tall golden haired man, Otoya looked back to see that the older man hand slid his hand under Haruka’s chin and lifter her face.  
“And How are you doing, little lamb?” The golden haired man moved his face closer to hers; Otoya pulled Haruka’s shoulders back and puffed his cheeks out.  
“Ren! Don’t get so close, you’re going to make a scene.” Otoya was referring to the fangirls who had crowded around the table. Hakan watched the three Saotome students interact; a smile grew on her face. She turned to make a comment to Shouta but noticed that Shouta had stood up and started to walk away with his stuff.  
“Shouta! Where are you going?” Hakan stood up abruptly causing most of the crowd including Otoya, Haruka, and Ren to look at her. She pointed to Shouta who had now stopped and looked back.  
“No.” Was the only thing that left Shouta’s mouth. Hakan lowered her arm to her side, a smirk replaced the smile. Before she could even open her mouth to say something back to Shouta, a deeper voice stepped in.  
“Your that uncute brat from yesterday.” Ren had let Haruka go and turned his attention to Shouta. Shouta’s glare moved from the Native American to Ren.  
“What a scary face you’re making for such a small little boy.” Ren crossed his arms. Usually what Shouta had said to him yesterday wouldn’t bother Ren but because Shouta was just going to leave like he didn’t care, made Ren annoyed. Hakan put her hands up and waved the around at Shouta, she knew one thing to piss Ren off was to talk mess about his mother and to make jokes about his body.  
“I see…” Shouta shrugged, even though inside he wanted to jump over the table and strangle the man he knew better than that.  
“You’re not even going to apologize to an upperclassman for being so rude to him.” Ren set his hands on the table and scanned the calm expression Shouta had on, looking for any break in his calmness. Hakan looked at Ren and tilted her head.  
“Huh?” Hakan asked, she could feel the tension between Ren and Shouta. Shouta turned around to face Ren, he looked as if he was being forced to do some kind of chore.  
“Not a very talkative guy unless he’s picking a fight, is her?” Ren started. The looks Shouta was throwing the orange-toned hair man, made him want to insult him better.  
“He was very rude to me and some lovely ladies yesterday.” Ren’s voice had a condescending tone to it. Hakan let a sigh through her lips. She stepped out of her chair and walked over to Shouta.  
“Seriously…?” Hakan looked at Shouta, by the way her looked back confirmed his story. Shouta’s irritated expression made Hakan cringe, she hated when he looked like that. She set her hand on Shouta’s head and forced the boy to bow in Ren’s direction.  
“Hakan!” Shouta called out as he bent forward. Hakan also bowed, she was big on respecting upperclassman. Knowing Shouta didn’t care to be rude to people younger ot older, she forced him to do the polite thing.  
“Apologize.” She looked at Shouta and hissed. Shouta looked to the side at her and hissed back not uttering a word. He hated apologizing to people especially people like Ren.  
“Hell no!” He attempted to stand up but Hakan held his head firmly. Ren watched the two, chuckling to himself as he watched Shouta struggle. Getting a kick out of the boys expression as Hakan forced to him to bow.  
“He’s an upperclassman, you need to apologize or we’ll bow until you do.” Hakan was just as stubborn as Shouta, of course in the back of her head she was worried he’s let them bow for hours. Otoya looked between the pair bowing and Ren and started to sweat. He tried thinking of a way to defuse the situation but was coming up blank.  
“It was probably just a misunderstanding! Ren is probably just joking around,” Haruka finally spoke up. Hakan looked up at her somewhat shocked, Shouta made a similar expression. Haruka looked at Ren with pleading eyes, as if telling him to confirm that he was joking.  
“The little lamb is correct; I was merely trying to mend with the young boy. No need to force him to do anything he obviously doesn’t want to do.” Ren shrugged and set his hand on Haruka’s head and smiled. Hakan let Shouta’s head up, glancing down at the boy as he stood up straight. He shot Hakan a fierce glare, then shot the same glare at Ren.  
“I’m leaving.” His voice was low but very angry. Ren made Shouta want to yell on the top of his lungs, the way Ren acted made Shouta’s skin crawl. Before Hakan could say a thing Shouta had already turned away and started his way through the large crowd that formed around the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //Thank you for Reading, constructive critism is welcome//


	4. Chapter Three - Simple Man

Hakan had spent the rest of lunch looking for Shouta. She wanted to scold him for being rude to an upperclassman, but also to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. Shouta was usually calm and cool but when pissed off he had a fierce temper. Hakan ran through the halls of Saotome academy, thinking she might be lost she panicked. Looking at the first classroom she could find, trying to get a feel for where she was.

She took a few deep breathes preparing for another frantic run through the hall when she heard a fosset get turned on. Someone was near, hoping to find a teacher she chased the sound of running runner. A few classrooms from where she stopped was just before was an open door. She poked her head in, to her surprise it wasn’t a teacher but Shouta. She slumped over and let out a dramatic sigh.  
“Shouta I’ve been looking for you all over!” She opened the door the entire way and stepped in. Shouta looked back, his eyes had returned to the calmness they usually were.   
“Sorry.” He turned back to the water and continued whatever he was doing in the classroom sink. Hakan stepped forward, carious to as what the boy was doing. He was washing a few paint brushes off, several colors of paint being washed down the sink by the rushing water. 

“I was planning on getting on your case about what happened between you and that Ren guy, but I can see that it wouldn’t be in my best interest to do that.” She turned around and leaned her bottom against the counter of the sink. She watched Shouta finish cleaning the paint brushes and begin washing off his hands.   
The classroom the pair was in was one of the classrooms elected to the use of the Watanabe Academy students. Hakan was in the same class type as Shouta but took a different study, so she had no idea about the classroom. Shouta finished using the sink, so he took the freshly dried off paint brushes to his satchel that held his personal supplied and began putting everything in its place. Hakan followed, curious to see what the boy had painted.

“So…what did you paint?” Hakan smiled at him, he didn’t look but but she saw his arm extend. He was pointing to a small canvas set against the wall. Hakan scanned the painting and smiled. The once blank canvas was now turned into a painting of a small child sleeping on bed sheets. The child was covered with the white bed sheets up to the waist and held his hand to the right side of his head. The way Shouta had painted the picture; it almost looked as if the baby had a glow around him. Hakan chuckled to herself as she got closer to the painting, in such a short time he’d painted such a cute painting.   
Shouta had a very harsh and unpolished personality but his talent for painting was amazing. Hakan extended her hand, wanting to pick the painting up to look closer at the detail. She stopped herself, her hand inches from the edge, she knew the painting didn’t have time to dry so she dropped her hand. She turned back to Shouta and smiled.  
“You really should apologize to that man. He seemed to be a very fun person.” Hakan spoke as if she knew something about him but in reality she knew just about as much as Shouta knew about him. Thinking back to the way Otoya and Haruka acted with the Ren fellow, she guessed they knew each other well.   
“How about I just stay away from that entire group.” Shouta spat out flatly. He was probably the most unsocial teenage boy she’d ever met. Shaking her head she started laughing. To get inside Shouta’s head and see the way he thought would surely be an adventure. 

“Don’t be like that, if you’d just open up a smidge I’m sure they’d come to like you.” Hakan held her hand up, her index finger and her thumb inches from touching as she said smidge. She squinted her eyes and smiled widely. She practically had to hold him hostage before he’d even talk with her for longer than three minutes. Shouta picked his satchel up and headed for the door, not uttering another word as he walked out of the room. Hakan blinked as she watched him leave. Processing that the boy was just going to leave her in the room all alone she chased after him.  
Shouta ignored the fuming girl behind him, he was half irritated that Hakan was trying to insist he be more social with people he didn’t even go to school with and half trying to get back to his class before the bell rang. He definitely didn’t want to be in the teachers focus to avoid another after school lecture. 

~

about a week or so had passed since the encounter between Shouta and Ren. Shouta was forced to spend a small portion of his time with the Saotome student Hakan had become fond of. Ren was included in that mix but he rarely stuck around long enough for anyone to notice. Alhough shouta had spoken to Ren since then, it mere greetings and goodbyes. Shouta had been introduced to several people in Saotome due to Hakan forcing him to hang around. Of course the boy didn’t say much and usually left first chance he got.   
One of the people he met through Otoya and Haruka was a student named Ichinose Tokiya. Tokiya held a striking resemblance to a popular idol in Japan named Hayato. Although Tokiya had already confirmed that he was the younger twin brother to the idol. Shout held no special interest in the idol she it didn’t matter whether he was really Hayato or not. Tokiya was another quiet one; he came around even less than Ren did. Neither Hakan nor Shouta had really spoken to infamous Tokiya. 

~

The cool brisk winter air had snuck its way into the halls of Saotome Academy. It was nearing December; the repairs on Watanabe Academy’s building wasn’t supposed to go on past December 17th but due to the heavy rain storms, the construction crew hadn’t been able to work. The head master at Watanabe made an announcement that due to winter coming that they might be using the Saotome classes for longer than expected.  
Tokiya stepped out of his classroom; he’d been excused to the restroom. Walking slowly down the hall, keeping his eyes glued to the window where he could see the rain coming down heavily. He was so fixed on the window that he failed to notice flirty Ren walking the opposite way of him, although Ren had noticed Tokiya.   
“Ichi.” Ren called out with his hand in the air. Tokiya jerked his head forward to face Ren, he raised his eyebrow. 

“Hello Ren.” Tokiya responded. He wasn’t all that surprised to see Ren roaming the halls during class; he guessed the tall playboy was skipping per usual.  
“Where are you going?” Tokiya spoke up before Ren could say anything. They had both stopped in the hallway. Ren shrugged, his eyes closed.   
“You know the extra room’s those Watanabe kids are using? Well I was going to see if there was a room I could use to spend some needed time with one of my lovely ladies.” Ren spoke so casually that it kind of irritated Tokiya. He knew exactly what Ren was talking about. Ren started walking again; he turned around to face Tokiya so he was walking backwards.  
“Wanna join me?” Ren honestly had no idea why he was asking Tokiya but by the expression Tokiya was walking around with, Ren thought he could use a break. Being expelled from S class probably hit Tokiya’s ego pretty bad. 

“Sorry but I’m supposed to be using the restroom so I can’t.” Tokiya turned his head to watch Ren walk backwards.   
“You don’t really need to use the restroom; you only used that excuse to get outta that class.” Ren could see that all over the other’s face when he said he was supposed to use the restroom. Tokiya scanned Ren’s face for a moment. He knew that Ren was smarter then he let on, but to be able to see that was surprising. Tokiya scanned down Ren’s body till his eyes hit the floor. Letting out a sigh, he started towards the older man. Without a word Ren turned around to resume walking down the hall. Tokiya didn’t want to skip but he hated the way the other students looked at him.   
Ren tried a couple of doors, a few halls away from where they had met up. A lot of doors were locked; when it was just Saotome Academy students all the extra classes were unlocked. Ren became more irritated as they tried more and more classroom doors. Tokiya had stepped a few classes ahead of Ren, he didn’t get as irritated though. He simply shrugged it off; he guessed that the Watanabe students did have a lot of supplies and material to protect. Tokiya was quite familiar with some of the works Watanabe academy had put out. As Hayato most of his clothes and dance lessons were done by former Watanabe Academy students. 

Turning the door knob he felt the door open. Halfway shocked he opened it slowly expecting someone to be in it. He peaked his head in to the class to make sure it was empty, after confirming that the room was clear of any people he pulled his head back out.  
“Ren over here.” Tokiya called out, they had made quite a distance between them and any classroom being used, so he saw no reason to lower his voice. A look of relief rushed over Ren, he was beginning to think that the Watanabe students had locked every free room up. He followed Tokiya into the room. Both Tokiya and Ren looked around; the room was filled with sheet covered canvases. Both guessed that they were paintings because of the paints and paintbrushes lying all over the counters and in the sinks. The room wasn’t very big, besides the counter and sink that lined the wall adjacent to the door; there was only easels with canvases and covered canvases lying along the wall.   
“Well if this is what’s in all the other rooms then I can see why they’d want to lock the door.” Tokiya watched as Ren stepped over to some of the canvases and uncovered them. In all different sizes, the canvases were covered in colorful splashes of paint. 

“How strange, I thought that Watanabe was just for students who wanted to be agents and fashion designer for Idols but they have artists like this.” Ren finally spoke up after they uncovered several paintings.   
“Well the headmaster of Watanabe Academy is an artist like this, I’ve seen some of his work for the sensei of my class so it’s not surprising that there are more aspiring artist at his school” Tokiya said as he turned his attention to a painting on an easel. They had uncovered ones sitting on the floor, so he decided to get a look at one on an easel. He pulled the sheet off in one shift motion, his eye widened as he got a look at the large canvas. Ren looked back, he stood straight up and moved next to Tokiya.   
The painting wasn’t colorful or cheerful; it was black and white. Two sunflowers were the focus of the painting. In the background you could vaguely see the field of grass and matching flowers, but the two flowers that looked as if they were leaning on each other was definitely what the artist wanted people to see. Every stroke of paint seemed perfectly placed. Almost like the pair was looking at a photo. The picture was so plain and un-colorful that it should be boring but the boys couldn’t keep their eyes off of it. It was almost as if they could feel the passion and care the artist put into the plain painting, it’s what made the piece some alive. 

“This painting is so…simple.” Ren spoke up, surprised at how mesmerized he was by the single painting. Tokiya just scanned it, everything everyone said he was missing; the heart, passion, and soul they said he lacked in his singing was sitting right before him in the form of a simple painting of sunflowers. Tokiya was at a loss for words; Ren noticed the look and tightly pressed his lips together.   
“Siryu Sun.” Both boys heard from behind him, they jerked their heads back to see the short unemotional Shouta closing the door behind him.


	5. Chapter Four - SunFlower Boy

Shouta looked at both of them as he stepped closer, making his way to the other side of Tokiya, his eyes averted to the painting.

“What?” Ren looked at Shouta, confused as to where the boy had come from and why he came to this room.  
“It’s the name of the painting.” Shouta took his eyes off the painting and met the gaze of the golden haired playboy. Ren tilted his head, as Tokiya stared at Shouta with the same look.

“I named it after my mother, Siryu and because the flowers are sunflowers. I called it Siryu Sun.” Shouta set his hand on the painting. Both Tokiya and Ren’s eye widened as they realized that the small teenager who only had rude things to say painted a piece with more heart and soul poured into it then they had seen in a long time. 

“No way.” slipped out of Ren’s mouth. He disliked Shouta with a passion but looking at the painting he couldn’t deny the talent Shouta had. Ren ran his hands through his bangs trying to grasp the boy’s words.   
“This is amazing.” Tokiya finally spoke up, eyes not budging from the boy’s face. Shouta lips curled into a smile, unable to control his chuckle. He held his fist over his mouth as he laughed in a gesture to stifle it, surprising Ren to see the boy smile let alone laugh. 

“No, it’s very bland; it was probably the easiest thing to paint.” Shouta knocked his knuckled against the painting; his eyes became soft as they scaled the painting.   
“But it’s probably the one I treasure the most.” Shouta spoke; both Tokiya and Ren were shocked to see the expression growing on his face. Without another word the boy turned and made his way to the corner of the room. There where blank canvases piled against each other, to which he picked up four of them and turned back to the Saotome pair.

“Cover the paintings up and lock the door when you leave. I have to get back to the teacher, he’s waiting for these. Sorry for interrupting.” Shouta bowed his head and headed out the door. Ren and Tokiya wanted to ask him more but couldn’t get a word in by the time he was out the door. Ren turned and started covering the paintings with the sheets; Tokiya watched the black and white painting for a moment before it was covered back up.

“Well, at least we found a room for you and your girlfriends.” Tokiya felt slightly irritated knowing what Ren would be dong in the same room as the painting. He wondered what kind of expression Shouta would have if he knew what Ren would do next to his painting. He didn’t know the young boy well but from what he’s heard and seen, he guessed Shouta would be quite cross with Ren.

“I’m not in the mood anymore.” Ren’s voice had a bitter tone. He finished covering the paintings to quickly walk out of the room. Without looking back or saying another word, Ren slammed the door behind him, leaving the other all alone in the room. Tokiya looked down both halls but Ren was long gone, cocking his head to the side, wondering why Ren’s mood suddenly turned sour. Knowing that Ren didn’t have a good first impression of Shouta, Tokiya shrugged it off as tension between the two and headed back to his class room. 

*************

The following day, Tokiya approached Shouta at lunch, taking the only free seat at the table, which was next to Haruka. She smiled at him and noticed that he wanted to say something, but Shouta was too busy focusing on his food to notice Tokiya’s stares directed at the painter.  
“Manabe-kun, I think Ichinose-kun wants to ask you something.” She was more familiar with Shouta; due to her sweet nature, he got along better with her than any of the other students. Looking up, the painter raised an eyebrow waiting for the older boy to say something.

“I think Ichi wants to ask about the painting we saw yesterday, but you have such an uncute face he probably finds it hard to talk to you.” A familiar voice hummed, putting their hand on Shouta’s shoulder. The underclassman looked up to see the frivolous playboy Ren. As usual, Ren wore his uniform like a host, but no one could deny that the Ren was one of the most attractive men around. Using that to his advantage, he had swarms of girls around him almost everywhere he went. Lunch was no exception. The girls had shot Shouta glares, mostly because they had heard of situation between the boys.  
“Why?” Shouta eyes traveled from Ren’s charming smile to Tokiya’s strange expression.

“I wanted to ask yesterday but you ran away so quickly that I couldn’t, what did mommy dearest say about the pretty little painting you did for her.” Ren’s voice was teasing but he honestly did want to know.  
“She’s never seen it, she works abroad a lot.” Shouta felt tired of looking at their faces and started eating again. He didn’t mind talking about his mother; he loved her more than he loved painting. Hakan had heard mention of Shouta’s mother and turned her attention to the conversation. The girls listened quietly not wanting to interrupt Ren. 

“And why’s that?” Ren set both hands on the back of Shouta’s chair and leaned on his arms. He moved his head closer to hear better.   
“She’s a freelance photographer and she gets hired for a lot of abroad jobs. She’s won a lot of awards for her photos.” Shouta said before shoveling rice into his mouth. Tokiya looked to his own food and pushed it around.   
“Oh they saw the sunflower painting you did?” Hakan butted her nose into the conversation. Other than his roommate Keiichi, Hakan was the only person at school to know a lot about his home life. Shouta responded with only a nod.

“He painted that after a picture his mother first took in America, she brought the magazine home to show him what America was like.” Hakan elbowed at Shouta. She knew how fond of his mother Shouta was. To which he elbowed her back with more force.   
“Why’d you paint it after some random photo?” Ren asked; he felt that it would be useless because his mother had the real picture.

“The magazine company closed and the magazine is out of print and all the copies were lost over time, so I painted the picture off of memory. My mother said the best thing about the trip was being able to roam around the sunflowers. I painted it so she wouldn’t make such a bothered expression when she talks about those pictures.” Shouta explained, he’d explained the story behind the painting quite a few times so he said it like it was nothing. Ren looked down at the boy’s face; he tightened his lips while gritting his teeth. 

“It wouldn’t change anything; she still lost the photos. What a stupid reason to paint that.” Ren stood straight up and started walking away giving his girls their needed attention. A few of the girls watched as Shouta ignored Ren’s words, they glared at boy wanting to say something but they knew it would be useless. Ren’s words looked as if they bounced right off of Shouta but truthfully they sunk right in.   
“Why do you think I never showed her.” Shouta mumbled under his breath, Tokiya caught wind of what the boy said and reflexively shot the back of Ren a glare.

**************

The next day Shouta and Hakan showed up for school a bit early. Both students had been able to avoid cleaning duty, but they finally got caught by one of the teacher while leaving school and the teacher asked them to do morning cleaning duty. Hakan laughed, she didn’t mind doing morning duty. Shouta on the other hand hated it; he wasn’t a morning person so having to get up earlier than normal pissed him off.   
The pair started with their classroom; while Shouta was putting a desk back in place he noticed a note on the teacher’s desk. Shouta picked it up and glanced over the note.

“Please get all the paint bottles and paint brushes out of the extra classroom’s 2b-2d. Thank you.” He read aloud, getting the attention of Hakan. She set the broom against the wall and walked over to Shouta. She grabbed the note out of his head and looked it over like there was a chance something different was written on the note. Shouta let an exaggerated sigh through his lips as he turned around.  
“You finish the rooms and I’ll go get that stuff.” Shouta headed out the door; before Hakan could say anything he was already making his way down the hall. He pulled his phone out to look at the time, 6:32am. He winced at the time knowing he’d still be asleep if he didn’t have cleaning duty. Although getting up this early meant he’d get to be first in the breakfast line. He chuckled to himself, being a teenage boy he loved to eat.

Shouta finally made his way to classroom 2-b, it was the same classroom that he found Tokiya and Ren in. He painted in the classroom on his free period. He opened the door; the room was exactly like it always was. Countless paintings covered with sheets and half used supplies cluttered the counters and desks. Of course he’d have to ask his teacher if he could bring the paint and brushes back during free period. Shouta started picking the paint brushes out of the sink and whipping them dry if they were wet.

Getting his right hand full of paint brushes he looked to the side. Seeing the covered canvas that had his painting ‘Siryu Sun’ on it, he tilted his head. He had no idea what Tokiya was talking about when he said it was amazing. To Shouta it was just another greyscale painting of some shitty flowers. Shouta stopped what he was doing and had moved in front of the painting. It was probably 45 inches tall and 33 inches wide. It was a nice sized canvas that he’d painted a few months back. 

He yanked the sheet off with his left hand in one yank. Shouta froze; his entire body ached when he looked at it. The once black and white painting of sunflowers was now covered with green and yellow splashes of color. Almost every inch of the painting Shouta previously painted was covered. Shouta’s eyed just looked the painting over and over. Shouta raised his hand and dragged it across the painting, under his finger he could felt that the green and yellow paint hadn’t dried completely. He closed his eyes and kicked the easel that it was on over. The entire painting fell face down, Shouta bit down on his bottom lip so hard it could easily break skin. 

“Who the hell did this to my painting?” Shouta knew that whoever did this meant to mess with him. He knew it was a personal attack on him.


	6. Chapter Five - Oh Loyal Followers

After seeing the condition his painting was in, Shouta stopped cleaning and demanded Hakan come look at the paining. She was just as shocked.  
"Did you throw a fit or something!?" Hakan jerked her head back and yelled at Shouta. The boy was known for having a bad temper when angry.

"No! I just came in and found it like this. Why would I ruin this painting, it was for my mother!" Even when angry he usually kept his voice down, but at this moment he couldn't help it.

"What the hell, who'd you piss off enough to do something like this?" Hakan rubbed the side of her head. She picked the painting up from the floor. She looked it over as she set it back up on the easel.  
What a shame, I know Shouta has a rough tongue but for someone to do something like this is just ruthless.  
Hakan thought to herself, biting down on her bottom lip. The amount of time she knew Shouta spent on this painting made it all the worse. Not many people outside of his class knew about the painting and just about everyone in his class didn't mind Shouta. No one at Watanabe Academy would do something like this, because everyone worked so hard on their own trade they understand how devastating it would be to have something like this happen to them.

"Who all knows about this from Saotome?" Hakan shook herself from her thoughts and turned to the shorter boy.  
"I don't know, just the group that you hang out with at lunch every day." Shouta kept his eyes directly on the color splashed painting.

"And only Jinguji-san and Ichinose-san have seen it in person." Shouta looked to Hakan who had a shocked look on her face. He raised his eyebrow knowing she had a thought.  
"You know Ren's not that kind of guy, he just likes to mess with you because of the whole thing when you first met…" Hakan trailed off. Her first thought was of Ren getting back at Shouta for insulting him. She didn't know Ren very well but he didn't seem like that kind of guy. Shouta narrowed his eyes at her; even he didn't think that Ren would do something like this. Without another word spoken from Shouta, the small framed boy dashed out of the room. He refused to wait another minute before confronting Ren.

The anger tossed around his insides, the painting wasn't anything great but knowing that it was for his mother made it special to him. He looked at the time on his phone as he practically dashed through the hall. The Saotome students should have started entering the school by then. Shouta's usual monotone expression was churned into anger and disgust.

**********

Minutes later Shouta found his way to the front of the school, students wandering in and out of the school. Knowing the easiest way to find the playboy was to spot the hordes of cackling girls, he kept his eyes out for the group. He pushed his way through various students, desperately looking for Ren.

Nanami was just getting to school with Otoya and Tokiya; reluctantly walking together they noticed the heated boy. Nanami waved but Shouta hadn't noticed her. He stopped mid-step and panted from dashing through the scattered groups of students. He looked around thinking that the other could have gone inside, when he spotted golden hair falling to the person shoulders from behind.  
"Jinguji!" Shouta called out. Several students stopped while walking and looked at the dark haired boy. The person turned their head, Shouta's assumption was correct. Ren smiled, he raised his hand and waved at the boy. Shouta narrowed his eyes and stomped a path to Ren. All the older boy's female followers scatter behind him, as if cautious of the younger boy.  
"Well Shou-chan, isn't this a surprise. You've never called me out like this." He set his hands on his waist, his smile twisted into a mischievous smirk. Shouta ignored the other's words and looked for the right words. The anger stirred him up, causing him to have a hard time filtering his words.

"My painting!" Was all the Shouta let slip past his lips. Ren just tilted his head. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side to laugh.  
"What about it?" Ren kept his head turned to the side but his now opened eyes were looking directly into Shoutas.  
"I get that you hate me for whatever, but why did you have to ruin the painting I did for my mom? How am I supposed to repair what you did to it?" Shouta's voice got lower with each word, as if the situation had finally sunk in. The anger has been replaced with a broken sensation.

"How will I show my mother…?" He trailed off. Ren had never seen the boy with such a look. The older boy's lip twitched.  
"What are you talking about? Why would I waste my time messing with one of your paintings? You probably pissed someone else off." Ren turned his face forward and shrugged. Ren usually came off as a frivolous flirt, but there were moments when he was heartless and cold. Of course the smirk never left his lips, which made his words all the more cold.  
"Besides your mom probab-"Ren had started but was cut off by Shouta who had pulled his fist back and threw it into the older student's cheek. It was so unexpected that Ren didn't have time to stop him. Shouta usually walked away but his temper was already on fire that it only took Ren's condescending words to set him off.

Before Shouta could swing at him again, Tokiya who along with Nanami and Otoya had seen the commotion grabbed Shouta's wrists. Ren set his hand on the lower part of his cheek where it stung from Shouta's punch.  
The altercation had attracted the crowd of students. Tokiya looked around, he knew that at least one student had to of gone to get a teacher by now. Without saying a word to either Shouta or Ren, he started dragging the younger one away. Shouta struggled to get free but Tokiya pulled him close.

"The Jinguji family is very well connected, while I know for a fact you're here on a scholarship. You don't want this fight." Tokiya's face was stern. He didn't know Shouta very well but saw his potential and if he got kicked out he might lose his chance to shine. Shouta stopped struggling and let the dark haired singer guide him to a more secluded spot.

**********

While the two escaped, Ren churned in anger. His condescending smirk had disappeared along with all the easy going feelings for Shouta. He'd never been hit like that before. The girls around him showered him with gasps and questions of concern. Everything sounded like muffled babbling to Ren at this moment as he watched the two disappear. Without a word he started walking towards the school, the golden haired man was going to find out what Shouta was talking about.

It didn't take long before he ran into Hakan, who was frantically looking for the pissed off Shouta. He stopped a few feet in front of her, even though it wasn't his problem he still felt like he had to see what had happened.  
"Y-You haven't run into Shouta, have you?" She held the palm of her hand against her chest as she gasped for air. Her back slightly arched over as she scanned Ren's face.

"As a matter a fact I have, he gave me a nice little present too." Ren turned his head and pointed to the swelling red mark on the bottom of his cheek. Hakan winced; she knew that if Shouta got to Ren first that there would be violence. Before opening her mouth again, she looked around.

"If he already found you, where is he?" Hakan's face started turning into an alarmed expression again.  
"Ichi swept in and saved the kid before anyone could get to him." Ren shrugged. He smiled at her.  
"So, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you didn't fuck up Shouta's painting and your just now learning of it." Hakan swallowed the words as she rubbed the upper part of her arms. Ren suddenly started getting annoyed as she mentioned the painting. He was sure it had to be the painting Tokiya and Him has seen the previous day.  
"Of course not, I don't do petty things. The only reason I'm up here is to see what I got hit over." Ren brushed past the girl. Without waiting for Hakan to say another word, he quickened his speed.

What an irritating situation, what a stupid kid to accuse me over anyone else. Why would I spend a second doing something like that over nothing.  
the thoughts jumped around in the singers head as he made his way to the classroom that the painting was found in.  
The door was cracked, he lightly pushed the door opened to enter. The room looked the same as it did yesterday. Although all the paintbrushes that were on the counter and in the sink where scattered on the floor. It only took mere moments for him to see the painting. From the door frame he could see the splattered green and yellow paint.

His heart sank as he moved forward. Before seeing what had become of the boys painting, he assumed that everyone was making a bigger deal of things than needed but being face to face with it had a bigger impact on Ren.  
"Jeez…" Slipped from Ren's mouth as he picked the canvas up with both hands. He could only see tiny traces of the mesmerizing painting he witnessed yesterday.

Whoever did this have to had done this last night before the school closed up. The paint is practically dry.  
Ren just bit his bottom lip and shook his head. A sharp anger rushed over him.  
"All the time that kid spent on this, all gone over what!? Some petty grudge someone held." Ren hissed under his breathe. From behind him he heard the floor creak. He jerked his head to see a few of his devoted fans. He did his best to put his same old Casanova smile on for them but his disappointment could easily be seen through it.

"Like what we did?" The head of the group spoke up, her hair was a light shade of hazel and her eyes matched. To any man she would be a good catch. Ren raised an eyebrow. The other two just smiled along with her.

"What do you mean, Beautiful?" He moved closer and slid his fingers through her long straight hair. It was softy to the touch, so well taken care of along with her skin and body. Ren had never noticed this girl. He mentally slapped himself, she was quite a beauty.  
"That ugly little punk disrespected you and treated you like a fool. We wanted to get back at him for treating you like that, but he didn't seem to care about anything. So when we heard you talking with him about this stupid painting, we knew it would be perfect. Guess we'll have to do worse since he marked your flawless face, Ren-kun." The beauty spoke as if she had done something good. The group had barely moved into the room, so as she talked she adjusted herself against the wall.

Ren watched her smile grow as he took in what he was just told. He could easily brush off everything Shouta said, so why would they do something like this. Ren instantly knew what had happened. His stomach churned as his name rolled off her tongue. He moved closer to her and set his hand on the wall next to her head. He leaned in close to her, his breathe against her ear.  
"You did this?" He whispered with a sly voice. He could feel her body shiver as his words escaped his lips and entered her ear. His breath caused her perfect hair to move.

"Yes, all for you and we'll keep doing it until he leaves you alone." She almost jumped at the chance to suck up to Ren. The golden haired man pushed himself away from the wall, he turned away. The girls just watched him; he slowly stepped towards the counter and picked up the green bottle of paint.

"Allow me to do you all a favor." He turned around while turning the cap off. In the blink of an eye he slung the paint a crossed the group of three girls. He covered their hair, faces and uniforms in green paint.  
"If you had any confidence in me, then you'd let me fight my own battles. Petty girls like you make me sick." Ren dropped the bottle out of his hands. He couldn't stand to look at their shocked faces any longer. He moved past the girls without as much as a look back.  
"Grow up." Were the only words he left the girls with. He tightened his fists as he moved down the hall. Shouta was just a bystander that got in the way of the older man's catty fan girls. If they weren't terrorizing each other, they were messing with others who even looked in Ren's direction wrong. The older man chuckled as he remembered Shouta's face the first day he met him. What a gaze, once he got older and grew into his body, Shouta could scare someone right to the core.

**Author's Note:**

> //Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy! Constructive Cristism is welcome~//


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